


total high school drama

by neiree



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Smut, High School AU, M/M, Multi, NoCo, alejandro is an antagonist?? sort of, alejandro on the other hand is a lost cause, but there’s also a lot of fluff, dw he will reedem himself bc he’s best boi, expect a bit of toxic duncan and duncney, gidgette (background ship), gwent, heathney, izva (background ship), lyler (background ship), these are the main ships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neiree/pseuds/neiree
Summary: what if our favorite reality show contestants... weren't reality show contestants?in this au, total drama's characters are nothing but ordinary sophomores.follow them on their journey to graduation and buckle up for romance, friendship, betrayal, and, of course, a lot of teenage drama.
Relationships: Bridgette/Geoff (Total Drama), Cody Anderson & Noah, Cody Anderson/Noah, Courtney/Duncan (briefly), Courtney/Heather (Total Drama), Eva/Izzy (Total Drama), Gwen/Trent (Total Drama), Lindsay/Tyler (Total Drama)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 17





	1. act i: everyone

wawanakwa high, 2014.  
first day.

the auditorium entrance opens and a bunch of students walk in.

there are excited freshmen, impatient to meet their classmates and teachers.

there are relieved seniors, happy to begin their last year of the hellish torture also known as high school.

then there are juniors, who look up to seniors.

but none of these three categories are the ones we are going to focus on. last, but not least, there are sophomores.

students who haven't crossed even half of their journey yet. students that thought surviving freshman year was enough, 

but who still have a lot to see.

principal mclean stood on stage, waiting for everyone to take their seats.

"good morning, students! It's a pleasure to see you back again, safe and sound. and I am also pleased to welcome all the new students to wawanakwa high school." he greets them.

a teal haired girl in the crowd giggles in disbelief.

"...and yet, he doesn't even make the effort to change his welcome speech. i remember hearing it as a freshman as if it was yesterday." she whispers.

gwen fahlenbock. a loner with good looks, and a lot of attitude. due to her difficulty in socializing without resorting to rude manners,

she managed to befriend only a few people.

"i know, right? he's even wearing the same shirt he did last year." replies the guy sitting at her right.

duncan nelson. gwen's best friend and notorious troublemaker.

"isn't that shirt incredibly similar to cody's?"gwen asks while hitting the boy on the left's arm with her elbow.

"as if principal mclean could compare." the brown haired boy replies.

cody anderson. gwen's other best friend and adorable geek. 

gwen and duncan laugh.

a few seats higher, an asian, black-haired girl glares at them.

"jesus, why won't these losers shut the hell up?" she complains.

heather wilson. good looking, popular and a very, mean girl.

she managed to befriend almost everyone in the entire school, but shows her true colors only in front of her two best friends.

"i know, right?"says the blondie sitting beside her.

lindsay mills. probably one of the prettiest girls you'll ever see, and definitely the most stupid.

theorically, she's heather's best friend. pratically, she's her minion.

heather giggles and then faces her other friend. "why are you looking at them so intensely?" she asks.

"...that guy really looks like a thug." her friend states.

"who? the one wearing a studded collar?"asks heather. "oh, oh! i know who he is! his name is...dustin?" lindsay exclaims.

"duncan. duncan nelson." the brunette replies.

and she's courtney barlow. smart, pretty and talented girl. a bit obsessive, at times.

one of heather's closest friends, but isn't naive enough to let her treat her like a minion.

moving on, there are three other students in the higher seats.

"i would've done this speech better." says a boy with long dark hair down to the nape of his neck.

noah sterecra. clever, if not brilliant, and endowed with incredible sarcasm.

sitting beside him we have leshawna edwards, a fascinating, talented dancer and a bit of a loudmouth.

"you're right, hun. this is boring af." she replies.

another guy sitting next to noah pokes his head towards leshawna.

"oh come on, you're doing the guy too dirty, it's not so bad." he answers, defending the principal.

trent mccord. talented singer-guitarist with an heart of gold.

both noah and leshawna look at him raising an eyebrow.

"..ok, the speech is bad. like, really bad." he admits.

"but thank god i have a perfect distraction down there..." he says, while pointing his view towards a certain goth girl.

"did you two even have any interaction before?" asks noah, crossing his arms.

"no hun, they didn't, but the guy here gets all excited even if goth girl only looks at him for two seconds straight." leshawna replies.

trent glares at them, noah grins and leshawna giggles.

and then we have the last three students.

bridgette fairlie, amazing surfist and natural beauty, dating geoff petronijevic, the handsome party dude.

sitting beside this lovely couple we have tyler oldring, the typical jock, aside from the fact that he sucks at sports.

tyler stares at lindsay in awe, while geoff and bridgette keep making out in the middle of the crowd.

lindsay catches him staring and blows him a kiss.

<> states the principal.

a tall, muscular latin guy reaches him on stage. alejandro burromuerto. handsome playboy.

thanks to his charm and his intellect, he got elected as the student council president.

approximately every student has a crush on him or likes having him around. every student except heather.

he bows and smiles, and she glares at him.

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

thirteen students attending sophomore year, going trough a journey full of love, friendship, betrayal,

with absolutely no idea of how much drama awaits them. are they going to survive it all?


	2. act ii: courtney

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> courtney barlow on an average school day.

on a dull and cloudy morning, she walked her way to her house's parking lot.

"good morning, miss barlow." her private driver greets her, while sitting in her family's porsche cayenne, waiting for her to get in.

he has been driving the girl around from the times she was in 1st grade to this day, the first day of her second week of sophomore year.

"i've seen better mornings, alfred, but good morning to you too." she replies politely, but with a pinch of sarcasm. typical of her.

"i must admit, the air has been dry since i woke up, and the sun doesn't seem eager to come out." alfred agrees.

courtney gets comfortable in the passenger's seat and pulls out her phone.

"so, how has school been treating you, miss?"asks alfred. "relatively well. same teachers and same good grades. but at the same time, same tattler friends and high expectations." says the brunette, not looking away from the screen.

"and what about that boy?" courtney looks away from her phone and raises an eyebrow. "boy?"

"the one you always talk about at dinner with your father. you called him a "churlish thug" several times."

courtney rolls her eyes as she understands alfred is clearly referring to duncan nelson.

"that boy? tsk. he still acts like he doesn't know rules are meant to be respected." she replies.

"but you, miss, still act like you can't stand him."

courtney's eyes widen. "w-what do you mean with "act like"? it's the truth! he really gets on my nerves!" she exclaims.

the man sitting beside her laughs warmly. "my dear, you're blushing." he states. courtney snorts.

they arrive near the school entrance and she picks up her bag. 

"have a good day, miss." alfred greets her. "you too. be safe." she greets him back, closing the car door.

after her driver's car disappears in the traffic, the brunette turns around and faces wawanakwa high school's gate.

she starts to cross the school yard, holding her bag's shoulder strap with an hand and scrolling on her phone with the other.

she pushes down the feeling of being observed, as she always did.

being the mayor's daughter wasn't a walk in the park, even tho it kinda seemed like it was.

some people admire you, and some other people expect too much for you to handle, but one thing's certain: your name is on everyone's lips.

"god, she's so annoying!"

"so the rumors that she was getting homeschooled weren't real? too bad."

"she thinks she's so classy, but even my grandma would never wear that sweater."

those were just a small taste of all the comments she heard about her person.

"i don't care. at all."

that's what she said everytime someone came to her to tell her about some gossip they heard.

and it kinda looked like she really didn't care about people's judgements.

or... she had to be strong enough to pretend she didn't.

she walked to her locker and saw heather coming her way. "good morning" says courtney. "yeah, good morning my ass." says heather, pissed.

"heather, i know it's hard to be nice at 8 AM in the morning, but at least pretend you're trying." replies courtney.

"how can someone be nice with that guy around?" asks heather, glaring at alejandro.

he was standing not too far from the two of them, and in response to heather's glare, he blew her a kiss. she rolls her eyes.

"but al is literally so nice, and it's obvious he has a thing for you. why don't you go for it?" asks courtney.

"because heather wilson has got no time for love and bullshit like that." replies the black haired girl, referring to herself in third person.

"listen, i know things went bad with tren-"

"don't even say. that. name." heather interrupts her. courtney remains silent, sighs and turns her head back to her locker.

"...and that latin accent is such a turn-off."adds heather, while looking at alejandro a second time.

courtney facepalms.

↳ ❝ ❀ ❞

as a member of the student council and alejandro's possible successor, 

it was courtney's duty to keep an eye on students in the hallways.

even tho, let's be honest, she preferred to keep an eye on a specific student only.

while passing near the main entrance, she saw some clouds of smoke. she quickly ran trough the door and turned her head to her right.

"hey! how many times do i have to tell you that it's forbidden to smoke on school grounds?!" she exclaims, rather pissed.

"no matter how many times you say it, hunny. it won't make me stop." duncan replies. courtney clenches her fists.

"you know that i could get you expelled if you keep up this attitude, do you?" she reminds him.

"then report me to the principal. i dare you."he replies.

her eyes widen a little, then she goes back to her irritated expression and crosses her arms.

"see? you don't want to get rid of me." he states. "ugh, you're so annoying and childish"she replies, and then leaves.

duncan smiles and blows out another wisp of smoke.

the bell rang. lunchtime.

after waiting in line with other students, courtney grabs her tray and walks trough the tables.

she sees heather, lindsay and, surprisingly but not so much, tyler.

she sits beside heather since the remaining two are busy making out.

"do they have any other kind of interaction aside from sucking faces?" asks courtney.

"sometimes they stop to have some small, trivial conversations and then resume." heather replies.

"why is he sitting here all of a sudden anyway? are they... like, official now?"

"looks like they are."

while heather adjusts her lipgloss and lindsay giggles with tyler, courtney sighs slightly and takes a bite of her apple.

"yep" she tought. "another dull morning, followed by a dull school day."

she needed a little more life in her lifeless routine.

↳ ❝ ❀ ❞

"i'm home. i brought the groceries." states courtney after crossing the front door.

"but honey, you could've let alfred do that." says her father, while coming downstairs.

"it's fine, dad. you know i don't want to rely on alfred for everything. especially things that are as easy as doing the shopping.>> replies courtney.

"so, what are we cooking for dinner?" asks her dad. "i don't know. what would you and mom like to e-.."

"uh, actually, it's just you and me tonight." he interrupts her.

courtney remains silent a few seconds, and then smiles again. "of course she isn't here.."she murmurs.

mr. barlow puts a hand on her shoulder.

"she's just.. very busy. in the end, she works hard for our good." he tries to console her. 

"you work hard too, but, unlike her, you're here with me and care about me." replies courtney.

her dad sighs. "just because she isn't here to show you, it doesn't mean she doesn't care about you as much as i do."

courtney exhales heavily. "maybe you're right." she lies.

she knew perfectly that he wasn't. yet, she still smiled and grabbed his hand, accompanying him to the kitchen.

her mother went continuosly on business trips and was rarely present. 

courtney and her dad undoubtedly suffered her absence, but they had each other's help to cope with it.

courtney developed her passion for politics thanks to her dad, and she also inherited his formal and elegant sense of style.

despite his brilliant career as the city's mayor, he was able to fill any void her mother left,

and courtney was incredibly grateful for that.

"so, how was you day?" asks her dad. 

courtney shrugs. "not that eventful. oh, but you'll never guess what that stupid thug said to me..."


	3. act iii: gwen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gwen fahlenbock goes out on a school night, finding herself overwhelmed with a certain someone’s unexpected but pleasing company.

the night earlier, on sunday night, gwen fahlenbock should've hung out, as usual, with her best friend duncan nelson.

...too bad he got drunk and ditched her to hook up with some chick.

gwen stood outside of a club, filling her chat with duncan of texts which he didn't respond.

cody said he didn't want to drink on a school night and didn't come, so the goth girl found herself completely alone.

"fuck it." she thought. she pushed her phone down her pocket and crossed the club's entrance.

she makes her way trough dozens of people, until she finds a spot where she has enough space to dance.

after a pair of songs, she walks to the bar. she orders a martini, and after the bartender hands her the drink, she takes a pair of sips.

sbe slowly empties the glass and leaves it on the counter to check her phone.

still no response from Duncan. she rolls her eyes. "a refill for the lady." says a male voice.

she looks up from her phone and meets the gaze of two green eyes.

trent mccord.

fancied by many girls thanks to his looks and his outstanding guitar performances.

but, despite that, he was into gwen, the only girl that didn't show any kind of attraction towards him.

"that was a forward move." she states. he giggles and takes a seat beside her.

"that's the only resource i had left, since you ignore me when i try to approach you at school." he says, smiling.

he was right. he did try to talk to Gwen, several times, but he was always unsuccesful because of her cold manners.

"looks like ignoring you wasn't enough to convince you to give up."

"i guess not." he replies. she accepts gladly the drink he offered her and takes a few sips.

"when will I get an explanation about your attitude towards me?" he asks.

"not tonight." she replies.

truth is, she didn't dislike Trent, but she couldn't even imagine being his friend because of his popularity.

gwen wasn't used to attention. she actually tried her best to avoid even being noticed. and trent surely catched lots of attention, so what would a relationship between them look like?

him being all friendly with everyone, greeting a bunch people in every corner of the school, 

with her by his side, feeling awkward all the time and being completely incapable to interact? 

"oh, hell no." she tought.

"come on. all I'm asking for is a chance. just to try to get to know you better." he tries to convince her.

she crosses her arms and looks away a few seconds, but then she turns her head back to him and their gazes collide.

she had to be honest. aside from his reputation, trent was a nice guy, he really was.

maybe pleasing him wasn't going to hurt as much as she thought. she smiles a little.

"what's your plan?" she asks. hesmiles, incredolous. then leans in. "come with me." he whispers in her ear.

he grabs her wrist and takes her way past the bar and the crowd of people. he stops in front of a locked door.

"woah!" she exclaims. "you're already scaring me." she adds.

"don't worry. you'll like it. or at least I hope so..." he replies, while pulling out a key from his pocket. she smiles a little, again.

he opens the door, and it reveals a small backstage full of musical intruments, speakers and microphones. 

"how do you even have access to this place?"she asks.

he picks up a guitar case. "well, this one's mine, actually." he replies.

gwen looks at the case with attention, until she sees a famous brand printed right on it's edge.

"no. way. you play in the musk brothers?>> she asks, amazed.

"well... not yet, but i made an audition recently. they didn't make it official yet, but they took me." he explained.

the musk brothers were a rock band, pretty popular all around the us.

even tho gwen enjoyed emo rap or punk music way more, she also had a soft spot for their songs.

"that's impressive." she states.

he smirks at her and then heads towards a small fridge. 

"let's see... here we have beer, vodka, tequila... you are spoiled for choice." he says, winking at her.

"tequila is more than fine." she affirms.

trent grabs a bottle, his guitar and reaches the door. 

they exit the backstage and he locks it.

↳ ❝ ☽ ❞

"so.. where are we going?" she asks.

trent didn't spill a word about where he was taking her after they got out of the club.

"where's the fun in telling you?" he answers to her question, with another question.

"okay, mystery man, but how longer do we have to walk? my feet are starting to hurt."

"not long. i called a cab, luckily for you and your feet." he says.

"hell no! i'm not going to let you murder me in the back of the car!" gwen exclaims.

trent raises an eyebrow. "what?"

"as far as i know, you could be a psicopath." she states.

he laughs. "i can assure you i'm not."

"mhh. i still have my doubts." she replies.

their cab arrives not too much later and trent opens the car door for gwen.

while the car wheels run on the asphalt, gwen contemplates the stars and the city lights.

trent looks at her, silent. "why were you all alone tonight?" he asks.

"one of my best friends is probably at home sleeping, and the other ditched me to spend time with some random chick." she replies without taking her eyes off the sky.

"...have you ever thought that you could try to hang out with other people too?"

gwen swallows. "no. hanging out just with them is fine to me." she retorts coldly.

after that response, he remains silent again.

be stares at her facial features: her lips, halfway between full and thin, her pointy nose, her pale skin and her black eyes, with her lids streaked with a line of eyeliner. her hair is dyed black and teal, and it reaches her shoulders. 

she blinks, turns her head and catches him stare. he looks away, and notices they're almost there.

"a villa? definitely not creepy." she states after getting out of the car.

"well, gwen fahlenbock, welcome to my house." he announces while walking towards the entrance.

she smiles for a millisecond, then goes back to her usual facial expression.

trent unlocks the door and they both enter. he notices gwen was feeling a little uncomfortable, but before he could speak, she anticipates him.

"listen. it you took me here just to hook up, then i'll gladly take my stuff and leave." she states.

"wha-" he says, then stops and rephrases "gwen, i meant what i said earlier. i just want to get to know you better. and I didn't mean by hooking up." he reassures her.

she looks at him in the eyes, worried, arms crossed. then she exhales heavily. "sorry. I got nervous." she apologizes.

"it's okay, just try to relax." he smiles at her. he enters the kitchen and comes back with two glasses, then hands one to gwen.

after that he walks towards the stairs, beckons her to follow him and she does so. after a pair of flights of stairs, they reach the terrace.

after feeling the cold air touch her face, shoulders and legs, gwen shivers. "are you cold?" asks trent. "a little." 

he takes off his coat and places it on her shoulders. had it been someone else, gwen would've considered that a romantically banal move. but trent had this aura around him that made her feel safe and, for once, she wasn't feeling out of place.

she blushes and turns her head to hide it.

trent sits on a wooden armchair and she takes a seat on the other one, in front of him.

they place their glasses on a plexiglass table and he pours some tequila gwen's, then his. 

after making their drinks touch shyly, gwen takes hers to her mouth for a sip. trent does the same. after placing it back on the table, he takes out the guitar from it's case.

he gently places his fingers on the strings and gwen stares at his agile hands. he starts to make them vibrate, producing a melody.

she smiles, as she recognises the song.

"beauty queen of only eighteen, she, had some trouble with herself.

he was always there to help her, she always belonged to someone else.

i drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door.

i've had you so many times but somehow i want more..." he sings.

gwen rests her chin on the palm of her hand as she listens, smiling. trent stands up.

"i don't mind spending everyday out on your corner with the pouring rain." he steps closer to gwen.

"look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while..."

trent sits beside her.

"...and she will be loved."

gwen blushes, and this time she can't hide it. the guy that was now 4 or 5 inches distant from her face keeps smiling at her, while sliding his thumb on her cheek.

"i'm not surprised the musk brothers took you in." she compliments him, and he giggles. they keep talking and laughing for an indefinite period of time,

until gwen's eyelids begin to get heavy, and the green-eyed boy places her head on his shoulder an lets her fall asleep there.

↳ ❝ ♪ ❞

gwen wakes up in an unfamiliar room.

sunlight filters from a big french window and she covers her forehead. she moves the blankets and sees she's wearing the same clothes she had the night earlier.

she then realizes she was sleeping in trent's bed, but he wasn't there. she quickly stood up and started searching for her shoes.

after putting her boots back on, she grabs her phone. 9:04 am. 

"jesus christ." she whispers to herself.  
school usually starts at half past eight.

not even the time to arrive at the second week of school and she already skipped first period.

she looks at herself in a mirror in trent's bedroom as she fixes her hair and whatever was left of her makeup. she walks downstairs. she's sorrounded by complete silence, the house is empty.

as she crosses the kitchen, she sees a note attached to the fridge.

"went to school and didn't want to wake you up. thanks for yesterday, we should do it again sometime. xo, trent"

gwen finds herself smiling like a fool while reading that note. she folds it and slips it into her purse.

then she opens the front door and leaves, hoping to arrive before third period starts.


	4. act iv: cody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cody anderson dealing with his long-time one-sided crush. emphasis on one-sided.

cody spent the whole morning waiting for gwen to appear, and when she didn't, he got worried and called her several times, without receiving any answer.

he crossed the school's main entrance amd went to his locker, letting out a sigh as he opened it. he saw one of his classmates enter right after him.

trent mccord. they had never spoken before, but basically the whole class knew had a crush on one of his best friends, gwen,

just like cody did...

but gwen didn't seem to be interested in any of them. she saw cody as his bestfriend along with duncan, and she never spoke very much with trent.

despite being friendzoned and hopeless, cody never gave up on his feelings, and kept them secret. while he snaps out of his thoughts, he appens to overhear a conversation between trent and his best friend, noah.

everyone in their class labeled him as the typical know-it-all. in addition to that, it came naturally to him to reply to everyone, including teachers, with a large dose of cynism.

cody had mixed feelings about him. he wasn't as boring as he looked. at times, he appreciated his sarcastic comebacks,

as they were perfect to light up the mood in class, while other times he found them a little out of context.

"morning, dude." trent greets noah. his friend greets him back.

"morning, trent. today your favorite girl to look at is absent, maybe this will help you listen to the lessons for once."

cody can't stop his eyes from rolling.

trent swallows and smiles awkwardly. "y-yeah... i guess."

noah raises an eyebrow. "is something wrong?"he asks, crossing his arms.

"n-no! i'm totally fine." trent replies nervously, making his answer hard to believe.

"you know, you don't sound exactly convincing.." states noah

"gwen is... sleeping." trent replies. cody's expression became a mix between curiosity and confusion.

noah looks at him, confused as well. "how would you know that? are you stalking her or something?"

"no! i meant... she's sleeping... at my house." he explains.

cody's brain stops functioning after trying to process the information he heard.

noah's eyes widen. "wait- what?!" he almost yells in shock.

trent didn't know what to say and started rubbing his neck.

noah eventually recomposes himself. "did you two...?" he asks, in a serious tone.

he was clearly asking if gwen and trent had slept together, without explicitly asking. 

"what? no, no. we didn't."

cody felt relieved... even tho that answer still didn't explain why gwen was sleeping at trent's freaking house.

"then why is she at your house?" asks noah, struggling to find the sense of this story.

"okay." trent inhaled. "we basically met in a club, she was alone and inoffered her a drink. after accepting my offer not-very-gladly, 

she kept acting so cold towards me that i couldn't stop myself from asking her why she never gave me a chance.

she stayed in silence for a bit, so i guess she really reflected on that question. in the end, she gave me no answer...

so i asked her out." trent recounts. noah's jaw drops, while cody is 100% certain he will faint any second now.

"what did she say?" asks noah, sounding way more enthusiastic than usual.

trent smiles. "she agreed. a little reluctantly, but she agreed."

if the sound of a breaking heart could be heard, everyone in the hall would've heard cody's.

noah smiled. "woah. i did not expect that. congrats, dude." trent smiled back. 

"...yet, that still doesn't explain what she's doing in your bed." noah says with a smirk.

"oh, yeah... that. i took my guitar, called a cab and we went to my house. we basically just chilled on my terrace, 

i played a few songs for her and we talked until she fell asleep. then i let her sleep in my bed and took the couch. the end." trent explains.

noah listens to him as he takes some books from his locker. "oh, how romantic." he said rolling his eyes, but still smiling.

"just wait until leshawna hears about this." noah jokes. trent laughs, and cody feels their voices becoming slowly distant.

his head pokes out of the locker he was hiding behind and he sees them walk to class.

before he could even realize the conversation he heard was real, he felt someone's hand touch his shoulder and almost gasped.

he wished it was gwen's hand. he wished she had finally shown up to school, ready to give him some kind of explanation.

instead, he turned around and found a grumpy and sleepy duncan, with messy hair and bags under his eyes.

"dude, you look like shit." states cody, pretty dryly.

"and i certainly feel like shit." the punk replies, holding his forehead with one hand.

"what have you been up to yesterday night instead of sleeping?" asks the shorter boy.

duncan yawns. "i was hooking up with some freshman girl. her name's amy, or samey, i can't remember. she has this freaking identical twin sister and i always mess up their names. 

it was bad, anway. the girl is literally so mean and annoying, probably worse than heather and 'miss CIT' courtney combined."

cody smirks as soon as he mentions courtney. "oh, c'mon. i can agree on heather being mean, but i know you don't think courtney is annoying."

duncan rolls his eyes. "don't even think about getting started with that bs again. it's way too early for that."

cody laughs. "c'mon, we better head to class."

↳ ❝ ✐ ❞

cody found social studies quite boring, and with gwen's seat empty beside his, it was completely unbearable.

after an entire hour of yawning and random doodling on his notebook, he was glad the bell rang.

suddenly, the class's door opened and no one other than his goth bestfriend showed up.

"sorry, i'm late." she quickly excused herself and started walking towards her seat.

cody saw her look at the opposite side of the classroom, with a smile forming on her face.

he followed her gaze and, obviously, it took to a certain guitarist, who was smiling right back at her.

then she looked in his direction and smiled at cody too, but it wasn't the same smile.

it was friendlier, less romantic, and she wasn't blushing like a tomato like she did when she saw trent.

cody still had to come in terms with the fact that gwen was probably going to smile at him only that way, like a friend would do.

a friend, nothing more than that.

he smiled back, even tho he wasn't exactly in the mood for that.

"sorry i left you alone. i know how much you hate u.s. government." she apologises.

"it's okay, i survived. but I'm afraid i won't if it happens again." he replies.

she giggles. "i promise it won't." she says, sticking out her pinkie.

cody wraps it in his. "how come you skipped first period?" he asks while shaking their hand a little.

gwen freezes. she hadn't prepared an excuse for her delay, and for the fact she wasn't dressed properly for school.

cody had noticed that too. she was wearing a short black dress and fishnet stockings.

luckily, the dress's cleavage wasn't very deep, at least not deep enough for gwen to get sent to the principal's office.

to complete her outfit, she wore a pair of high black velvet boots.

"i'll... tell you later. it's actually a funny story." she replies, sounding nervous.

cody nods, then turns his head to the teacher.

"yeah, i bet it is." he says to himself.

↳ ❝ ✐ ❞

a while later, gwen was sitting with cody and duncan in the cafeteria.

"..and then i woke up at 9 AM, in his bed, thankfully still dressed." she recounts.

"i bet next time you won't be..." duncan teases her and she glares at him, then she moves her leg under the table and kicks his knee. 

while her and duncan kept bickering, cody couldn't help but formulate so many questions for her in his head.

before he could control himself, one of those slipped out of his mouth. 

"do you like him?"

gwen stops and remains silent, so does duncan. then she coughs.

"i mean... i haven't figured that out yet. it's not like i can develop feelings for him after one night." she replies.

cody did feel a little relieved, but that answer still didn't completely comfort him.

she didn't say "no". she said she didn't like him yet. she was hinting that the answer might change in the future.

and could he really blame her? trent seemed like a cool guy, he's popular, talented, has good looks and he's charming.

of course gwen would've liked him. he had everything that cody didn't have.

after getting to know him better, gwen was going to fall for him for sure.

↳ ❝ ✐ ❞

a few days later, cody and gwen were attending their english literature class.

gwen was half-asleep troughout the first half of the lesson, and now she had passed out completely.

"so, as you know..." the teacher faced the students after scribbling something on the blackboard. "there will be a trip to new york next month,

where we will attend a theatrical reproduction of the opera 'a streetcar named desire', written by tennessee williams."

some people were more enthusiastic to know about that than others. 

"i want to make sure all of you have at least a vague idea of what the play will be about, so i'll split you in groups of two to work on a project about this tragedy." she announces.

even the ones that looked excited a moment earlier grumbled after that statement.

"without further ado... group 1: gwen fahlenbock, lindsay mills." she started.

cody almost burst out laughing. gwen surely won't be happy to know this when she wakes up.

"group 2: duncan nelson and trent mccord.>>

duncan rolled his eyes. "i guess it's me and elvis." he whispers to cody from the seat behind.

"group 3: leshawna edwards, tyler oldring. group 4: heather wilson, courtney barlow." 

heather kept filing her nails, while courtney sighed. "great, another assignment to do all by myself." she thought.

several names later, the teacher had almost finished calling everyone on the list.

"group 10: noah sterecra, cody anderson.>>

cody instinctively turned his head in noah's direction. the indo-american boy raised his eyes only for a brief second and met cody's.

his expression was neutral, almost emotionless. he immediately turned his attention back to the book he was reading.

his reaction was indecipherable.

"this is going to be harder than i tought." cody states to himself.


	5. act v: noah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> noah sterecra also deals with a crush. but is his one-sided?

the teacher kept calling everyone, splitting the class in groups of two, while noah was reading a book.

"group 10: noah sterecra, cody anderson." she finished.

noah raised his eyes and met cody's gaze, which was already settled in his direction.

noah avoided his stare and came back to reading. as shocking as it might seem, cody was noah's long time crush.

he didn't tell anyone tho, and to be completely honest, he didn't even fully admit liking him to himself, that's why he was constantly acting like he didn't care about him just like he didn't about anyone else.

yet, he secretly enjoys being paired up with cody, even if his harshness, coldness and cynicism tend to get the better of him.

↳ ❝ ❦ ❞

noah sat in the library, in a quiet spot, pretty distant from the rest of the class.

a few seats behind him there was gwen fahlenbock, cody's best friend, who was doodling something on a drawing sheet.

noah also suspected that the geek had a crush on her considering his behaviour towards her.

suddenly, he heard the library's door slam.

"sorry for the delay, mr. holland." cody apologises to their teacher.

noah finds his gaze fixated on him, and for some reason he can't look anywhere else.

when he realizes cody is coming his way, he lowers his head on the notebook he was writing on, assuming he was heading towards gwen.

to his great surprise, the boy stopped right beside him. "h-hey." he greets him.

noah raises his head way faster than he wanted to. "umh... hey." he greets him back.

cody rubs the back of his head. "so... since almost everyone is working on the group assignment,

i figured we could get started and... you know, get to know each other... better?"

noah almost blushes. almost. "sure, take a seat." he invites him. cody gladly seats beside him.

"i'm cody, by the way." he introduces himself, realizing just a second later that it was kinda stupid to do, since they go in the same class.

noah laughs slightly. "i know. even tho introductions weren't exactly needed, i'm noah."

cody rubs his arm. "i guess it came naturally, since we never spoke to each other despite attending the same lessons for a year."

"yeah... i'm not exactly a talkative and friendly person, so it doesn't surprise me." replies noah.

cody moves his lips to the side and changes the subject. "so... what is the play about, anyway?"

"i'll try to sum it up. 

it's the story of a woman named blanche dubois, an ex-teacher that decides to move to live with her sister and her brother-in-law,

after losing their family's property. the couple welcomes her, unaware of the problems that the woman's presence will cause." noah recounts.

"mhh... what kind of... problems?" asks cody, raising an eyebrow. "first of all,

the moment she arrives to her sister's house, she starts whining about the apartment's sloppiness." says noah.

the two of them discuss about the tragedy for a while, finding points of agreement and also disagreement.

"so you're telling me her own sister didn't believe her?! that's impossible, and horrible." exclaims cody

"well, considering how naive stella can be around her husband, it's actually plausible." says noah.

cody remains silent a few seconds and then speaks up again. "well, i guess you're right... but it's still horrible."

"well, they call story like those "tragedies" for a reason, brainiac." noah replies dryly.

he regrets those words the second they come out his mouth. was he becoming too cold, defensive or harsh again?

while he was afraid of having offended cody, he heard the geek laugh. 

"so that's what it feels like to receive one of your sarcastic comebacks..." he states. "my... what?" asks noah, confused. 

"you know, those cynism and sarcasm bombs you throw at everyone. even the teachers." says cody.

"you... like, appreciate them? most people are offended by them, which is kinda their purpose." asks noah.

"i think you've got a good sense of humor." says cody, pointing his index finger at him with a wink.

"...you really are weird, dude." says noah.  
cody keeps smiling at him, and he smiles back.

their long conversation gets interrupted by the bell, and noah curses it internally.

"i really hope we ace this assignment." says cody while standing up from his seat.

"don't worry about that. i know we will." noah reassures him, sounding confident.

after they part ways in the hallway, noah's stomach feels funny and his face is slightly turning red. he doesn't focus on where he's going, and that results in him bumping into trent.

"hey! you alright?" asks the taller guy.

noah shakes his head. "sure. never been better..." he murmurs. trent blinks a few times, then looks at the other side of the hallway and sees cody talking to gwen. "what were you and cody up to?" he asks.

"w-working in the assignment, duh." noah stutters while trying to sound as sarcastic as he usually does.

this was the first time trent had ever heard noah stutter. he looks at the shorter boy as he opens his locker and smirks.

"mh, so you were just working? nothing more?"he asks.

"umh, trent, where are you going with this" asks noah.

"oh, i don't know... i just sense this "i'm into cody" vibe in the air..." he teases him.

noah's eyes widen. "i..i... what the hell? so you're assuming i like him just because we're on this project together?

does that mean i fancy every person i've worked on an assignment with? 

because that would include heather and duncan too, and that's a no from me."

trent laughs. "hey! hey! calm down! no need to become so defensive, you know...

it's just that i don't recall you being so clumsy and red after working with heather, or duncan, or anybody else." he teases him more.

"oh my god, will you just shut it? that has nothing to do with cody." noah whispers, putting a finger on trent's mouth.

his friend laughs even more. "sorry, dude." he whispers in between his giggles.

noah crosses his arms. "whatever. just stop with this nonsense and let's go to class."

after grabbing their stuff and turning in their class's direction, leshawna shows up.

"yo, short stuff! what's the matter with you and that other little white guy?" she asks.

"c'mon! spill some tea to leshawna!" she adds, in a teasing tone.

trent grins and noah facepalms. "for christ's sake... not you too!"

↳ ❝ ❦ ❞

noah walks home at around four o'clock and grabs the door's keys out of his pocket. "i'm home." he announces after entering.

his younger siblings were busy playing and his mother was deciding what to cook for dinner, so none of them paid much attention to him.

he was used to situations like this, so he just went upstairs to his room. 

he felt exhausted, so he dozed off while working on his part of the assignment he had with cody.


	6. act vi: heather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the school trip and other issues are giving heather wilson a hard time.

october 7th, 2014

↳ ❝ ♛ ❞

the trip to new york is on the doorstep for wawanakwa high's students. one of them in particular isn't really excited about it.

she invited her two best friends for a sleepover the night before the trip.

heather looks at herself in the mirror of one of her palettes while sitting on her bed beside lindsay.

"oh, my, GOD! do you know how many shades of this lipstick i can buy in new york?!>> she squeals.

"yes, lindsay. you've been rambling and squealing about all the shops you want to stop by for over an hour." says courtney.

"hugh. i can't believe our teacher assigned us seats on the bus. what kind of teacher does that?" heather whines.

"the same teacher that no longer trusts us after she witnessed us almost destroy the bus for last year's trip." courtney replies.

"hey, it's not so bad! i get to sit next to tyler..."says lindsay.

"no, lindsay. you asked the teacher to sit beside him and she didn't say yes because you've been assigned to sit next to gwen.

and gwen isn't your damn ex..." explains heather. "wait. don't tell me you've been assigned to sit next to..." says courtney.

"yes, trent. the one and only..." heather interrupts her. "oh..." her friend murmurs.

"well, at least the three of us share a room together." says heather, trying to think positive, but still keeping her annoyed tone.

courtney keeps silent about that matter.

"wait, you mean i have to sit beside greta?! but... she scares me!" exclaims lindsay.

"wait until you and heather discover she's also sleeping in our room..." courtney thinks to herself.

↳ ❝ ♛ ❞

6:45 am. a loud ring punctures the three girls' eardrums. lindsay yawns and stretches, hitting courtney's nose accidentally.

"ow! lindsay..." growls a now half-asleep brunette.

heather's eyelids open slowly and after a small yawn, she immediately gets up from her bed.

"are your bags ready?" she asks. "of course, i double checked mine and lindsay's." says courtney, after getting up.

"good. then let's hurry up and get ready to get out of here." says the asian girl.

courtney doesn't hesitate and goes straight to the bathroom, followed by lindsay, while heather walks towards her walk-in closet.

after an hour of chaotic preparation heather comes out wearing a pink crop top and light-colored jeans, walking in a pair of white sneakers. not her best outfit, but she was going to stay in a bus for who knows how much, so she tried to stay comfortable.

for the same reason, courtney threw on a green sweater, black yoga pants and converse shoes that matched the latter. lindsay took the not-so-smart decision to wear high boots along with jeans and a tank top.

"how are you going to survive walking in those?" asks courtney. the blonde girl shrugs. "those are the only shoes i brought."

the three girls grab their suitcases and walk downstairs.

"you're late, heather." states her mother, standing in the hall with her arms crossed, glaring at her daughter.

heather had checked her phone a few moments earlier. her and the girls had came downstairs only two minutes late.

she ignores her mother's statement. "sorry." she murmurs. "whatever". her mother's gaze turns in courtney's direction.

"ohh, here we have mayor barlow's lovely daughter. did you sleep well, dear?" asks the woman.

"great." heather thinks to herself. "7 in the morning and she's already being all cute and fake towards courtney..."

courtney blushed. she felt a small sense of guilt in the back of her chest. even tho she couldn't stand heather at times,

she thought it was unfair that her mother cared more about her well-being than her own daughter's.

"yes, heather's bed is very comfortable. thank you mrs. wilson." she smiled.

"anytime. now let's get to the car girls, shall we?" mrs. wilson incites them.

heather sighed lightly, but courtney managed to hear her anyway.

as already mentioned, courtney really couldn't stand heather and her behaviour sometimes.

but in the end, she cared for her deeply. and she could understand her pain in part, since her mom was away most of the time.

she couldn't tell if it's worse to have a pressuring mother or a totally absent one, but she knew one thing for sure.

she was always going to support heather, even if the latter often acted like she didn't need support.

they climb into the carseats and stay silent for most of the ride, the only one talking being heather's mother, blabbering about that one time she met courtney's father and shared a brief conversation with him.

she fed her that story everytime courtney went to their house.

heather was used to that more than courtney was. her mother had an huge adoration towards coutney because of her family's name.

she didn't even like her daughter's friend before mr. barlow's election, and called her "shabby" multiple times.

and if she didn't like courtney at all, wait unt you hear her opinion about her own daughter.

she always had high expectations of heather and no matter how much the girl tried to satisfy them,

she was never worth enough to her mother's eyes. she had always been very cold towards her,

but the situation worsened during middle school, when mrs. wilson overheard heather having a conversation with an old friend,

in which heather confessed to be pansexual.

her mother panicked so much after hearing that statement, already imagining their family's reputation falling to pieces if that information went public.

heather was grounded for god only remembers how much time, and her mother forced her to break her friendship with that girl.

mother and daughter remained more distant than ever since then.

mrs. wilson agreed to let her go to parties or other events and buy everything she wants only to mantain her social status high.

the car stops at the bus station. heather greets her mother coldly and the woman doesn't even bother to reply.

instead, she waves at courtney, who is forced by her good education to smile and reciprocate.

"three days far from that icy woman starting: now." states heather, feeling relieved.

the three girls face the rest of their class, standing not so far from them. not everyone had arrived, and the bus was going to leave in fifteen minutes.

heather was hoping trent had called sick and stayed home, but she had to accept the fact he was right there, waiting with his friends to get on the same bus she had to take too.

↳ ❝ ♛ ❞

the two became friends in a month or less and dated for six months.

he was the only person to know about her sexuality. not even her best friends did.

why did he know? because he made heather feel like she could rely on trent in every situation.

after being betrayed several times, even from her own mother, all heather needed was a loyal, trustworthy person in her life.

her and courtney had their divergences at the time, while trent was nothing but nice to her since they first spoke.

he never judged her, he accepted her for who she was. that made heather's mean and tough appearance fall apart and her heart melt.

they tried to go out together, but things didn't work out. their relationship felt more friendly than anything else.

trent was always there to support heather, to wipe away the tears she only poured when she was in front of him, alone.

but there was rarely any romantic interacion between the two of them. many hugs, kisses on the cheeks, seldom on the lips, and sex was an unknown concept.

it was trent who decided to end things, the same night heather was intentioned to tell him she was in love with him.

if that had happened earlier, it wouldn't have affected the asian girl as much as it did, but i was too late. she had fallen for trent.

after hearing him say that, in his opinion, they were better off only as friends, she became angry, angry because he didn't feel the same.

she convinced herself that trent was just another person to add to the list of those who didn't love her at all.

and they never made amends since then.

↳ ❝ ♛ ❞

"speaking of ice and cold..." says lindsay. "i forgot early mornings could be this cold." she states, sliding a jeans jacket out of her suitcase.

heather started to feel the cold hair on her skin as well, slightly shivering. courtney, in the contrary, didn't even flinch.

"how the hell are so comfortable when it's this cold around you?" asks heather.

courtney raises her eyes from her phone nonchalantly. "i told you my 'ugly sweaters' can come in handy sometimes."

heather rolls her eyes. courtney smirks and grabs one of her sweaters from her suitcase so she can lend it to her friend.

"n-nice try, courtney. this world will never see me wear one of your sweaters." states heather.

"oh well. enjoy freezing to death." states courtney in a mock-ish tone. heather bites her lip. "on second thought..."

and that's how heather found herself wrapped in courtney's grey sweather.

...secretly enjoying it's warmth.

the whole class arrived and everyone took their seats on the bus.

heather sat beside her seat's window and plugged her headphones in her ears before trent could reach her.

she took a look around. trent's nerd best friend sat beside an equally nerd boy with a gap in his teeth. tyler and geoff also sat together.

courtney rolled her eyes as she saw duncan nelson sit beside her, while the latter smirked at her.

lindsay slowly sat beside gwen, who had her headphones on and didn't even turn her head to face the blonde girl.

heather kept looking at her friend trying not to make any noise. she really was scared of the goth girl, so much that she threw a terrified glance at the asian girl.

heather rolled her eyes, looking at the entrance and realizing that the last two students were coming.

trent climbed the vehicle's stairs while talking and laughing with his friend leshawna, and then they parted ways to reach their assigned seats.

leshawna sat beside surfer-girl bridgette, while heather realized her ex was coming her way.

she knew that sooner or later this would've happened, but she did her best to ignore the situation.

trent apparently did so too, sitting beside her without saying a word.

and so, the driver starts the bus and slowly leaves the station.

destination: new york.


	7. act vii: everyone

october 8th, 2014  
somewhere on the way to new york

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

noah had been staring for a while at his book, unable to process the words written on the pages.

why was he so awkward around cody?

how was he going to survive being in the same room with him, the two of them alone, for two nights?

cody felt awkward as well, staring at his phone, scrolling trough some tweets and replying to some texts, without a clue about how to start a conversation.

maybe he should just avoid talking. noah didn't look like a morning person, so he was probably going to glare at him and tell him to shut up if he tried to speak.

another thirty minutes of silence flew by. 

"screw this. the situation can't get more awkward than it already is." cody thought to himself.

he turned his head towards noah. he looked like he wasn't fully concentrated on his book, or at least a lot less than he usually is.

"h-hey...what are you reading?" asks cody. noah almost gasped. the geek was expecting some kind of rebuke from the other,

but noah surprisingly smiled at him. slightly and just for a fraction of second, but he did. 

"thank goodness you spoke, the silence was getting heavier by the minute." states noah, sounding a little relieved.

cody smiles back. "yeah... i was feeling a little awkward, to be honest." "you can say that again." noah agrees.

"we're also going to share a room, so being silent all the time would've made it weird, i guess." says cody.

he realizes what he's just said and blushes slightly. so does noah. 

"well, way to make it 'weird' yourself." noah mocks him with his usual sarcastic tone.

cody rubs the back of his neck and giggles.

their barely started conversation gets interrupted by someone raising their tone a few seats ahead.

"the worst thing mr. holland could do was making me seat beside you." says courtney.

"well, it's not like i asked for this either, princess. so please accept our fate and stfu." duncan replies dryly.

courtney gasps. "how dare you speak to me like this?! you literally have no respect." 

"sorry hunny, looks like my parents never bothered to teach me that." he says sarcastically.

"well, i can tell. you're rude, you break every single rule you can, and sometimes you even do it for fun!" she exclaims.

"oh my god. are you going to scold me even during this trip? haven't you got anything better to do?" asks the punk.

"yes. in fact, now i'll gladly turn my head away from you and rest a little." says courtney.

"awesome, that's what i've been trying to do for the past hour too, you know?" he retorts, turning his head in the opposite direction and closing his eyes.

courtney rolls her eyes and places her head on the leather seat. as soon as she closes her eyes and tries to relax, she hears duncan snoring, already fully asleep.

"jesus christ." she murmurs. "this guy really is something else."

heather witnessed the scene, unable to hold back an irritated expression. 

not because of duncan, but because of the exaggerate attention courtney was giving him. trent looks at her with his headphones on, but still understanding the whole situation.

no matter how much they want to pretend they don't know each other, trent knows heather in a way nobody else does.

he can tell when she's hurt, he can tell when she's mad, he can also tell when she cares about someone.

even tho she was the one that sent their friendship off the rails, he really does miss her.

during the time they were dating, a part of him kept telling him that what he felt for her wasn't love. he listened to his heart and, not wanting to deceive her, he decided to end things. 

everything he ever did was done to prevent heather from getting hurt. everyone in their school saw her as a mean, spoiled brat, 

but he knew she was so much more than that. 

and last year, for some reason, she chose him to open up about everything that happened to her in the past.

he keeps looking at her. she's so focused on staring that she still didn't catch him.

her expression changed. it went from irritated and frustrated to sad and, for some reason he was slowly figuring out, hurt.

"are you ever going to tell her?" he finally speaks up. she snaps her head in his direction. "excuse me, what?" she asks, dryly. 

"you know what i'm talking about. well, will you ever tell her?" he repeats.

heather crosses her eyebrows. "and why the hell should i tell you, out of all people?"

"because i'm the only one you can really talk to about this." he replies, a little too harsh.

heather remains silent, and deep inside, she knew he was right.

but, of course, she wasn't going to let him know that she knew. "whatever." she replied nonchalantly.

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

the bus stops at it's destination. after grabbing their stuff and leaving the vehicle, the group of students face the hotel where they're going to spend the next two nights.

it was actually very nice, considering how cheap their principal can be when it comes to the students' assets.

a kind young woman working at the reception, probably aged 30 or so, delivered the room keys to everyone.

cody took the key of the room he shared with noah, trent reluctantly took the key to his and duncan's room, 

and as everyone waited for their turn to grab their keys and leave, only four girls were left.

"you're telling me i have to share a room with one of them?" asks gwen to the receptionist.

heather and courtney raise an eyebrow. "it's not like we're looking forward to it either." says heather. 

"actually, dear, if your surnames are fahlenbock, wilson, barlow and mills, then it seems like you have to share the room with all of them." states the woman.

gwen and heather's eyes widen. "what?! are you sure there isn't a mistake?" asks the asian girl. the receptionist rubs the back of her neck.

"well, since three of you made the request to be in a room together, and since we have no single rooms, the only girl left out has to share with you." 

"amazing. as if this couldn't get any worse." whines heather. courtney looks at her with a concerned expression.

"you know what? whatever. just try not to ruin this for us, weird goth girl." she adds, ripping the key out of the woman's hands.

gwen rolls her eyes. "rude." states the receptionist. 

"you have no idea, miss." gwen replies, walking towards the elevator, dragging her suitcase with her.

"girl, this room is huge." says leshawna to bridgette after sitting on one of the beds.

they left the door open, so the girl saw her tall and dark-haired friend struggling to open the door.

"trent! why don't you come over later? you can bring your lovely girlfriend with you, too." she teases him.

"she's not my girlfriend. far from it, actually. but i'll consider your invitation." he replies, still trying to buldge the door.

"do you need some of this girl's biceps?" asks leshawna, clearly referring to herself. trent giggles. "no, i'm good! i can do thi-..." 

but before he could finish the sentence, the nerve of his elbow hit the tough material of the door, paralizing his arm for a few seconds.

bridgette holds back her laugh and leshawna rolls her eyes. "ok, i get it. i'm coming." 

while the strong girl tries to unlock the door, heather, lindsay and courtney walk trough the hallway, followed by a silent and pissed gwen.

she sees trent, and her pout eases a little. he waves at her and so does she. "hey" she greets him. "hey there. which room are you in?" 

"the quadruple room." gwen replies, rolling her eyes. "oh, so that means you're sharing with heather's trio?"

"i guess i am. unfortunately." she confirms. trent looks at her face, her really pretty face, as she lowers her gaze to the ground. then he remembers leshawna's offer, 

and his mouth speaks automatically. <> he asks, grabbing her chin delicately.

"do you think me and leshawna would get along?" she asks. 

the slight color pink expanding on her cheeks shows that it doesn't matter how tough and unpleasant she wants to act towards people, because she can be shy too. 

trent smiles. she really is unaware of how great it is to have her around.

"of course! she can be friendly with anyone, minus heather." he states. "can't really blame her." says gwen.

if anyone else other than gwen stood in front of him, he would surely have contradicted that answer.

he couldn't blame her for not standing heather, since the latter had been anything but nice to gwen during the past year, knowing that trent had his eyes on her for a long time.

sometimes, he wondered for how long she was still going to hold that grudge.

"then it's settled." he states, snapping out of his thoughts. gwen's blush fades and she smiles lightly. "yeah."

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

on the other side of the hallway, noah opens the door to his and cody's room.

he liked the way that sounded. his and cody's room...

before any kind of unholy thought can cross his mind, cody accidentally bumps into his ankle with his yellow suitcase while entering.

"oops, sorry." the geek apologises absently, and walks forward. they both walk in and put down their stuff. 

they put their suitcases in place quietly, until they both notice the bed. yeah, not the beds, the bed. singular. 

noah's eyes widen and he turns his head in another random direction. 

cody gulps loudly, before turning his gaze towards the rest of the room and avoiding the subject. "well, not bad, isn't it?"

double bed aside, the room really looked fancy and suitable for the 4 stars engraved on the hotel's sing.

"yeah, it's nice." says noah, avoiding eye contact. "...sooo..." cody murmurs. "are you okay with sharing?" he asks. 

"cause, you know, there's an armchair right there, and if i can't sleep on that thing i can always text duncan and ask him if there's sp-.."

"cody, hey, hey, stop. i'm totally okay with that! i grew up with 7 siblings, it's nothing new to me." noah reassures him.

cody exhales, feeling relieved. then he puts back on his usual smile.

"so, how long until we have to go watch the awaited play?" asks cody after sitting on on side of the bed and taking out his phone.

noah checks his digital watch. 3:09 PM.

"i mean, most of our class wouldn't exactly define it as "awaited", but anyways, about three hours." he replies. "well, what do we do to kill the time?" asks cody. 

"i say we catch up on the hours of sleep courtney deprived us of because she was busy yelling at duncan." noah says sarcastically, also sitting on the bed, occupying the other side.

"do you really plan to sleep on a three-day school trip? during free time?" asks the geek."yes." noah replies dryly.

he immediately regrets that answer. sometimes he really hates his frankness. "you're no fun." whines cody. 

noah sighs. "fine. did you have anything in mind?" he asks.

cody smiles. "i heard someone say that this place has a pool. why don't we go check it out amd have a swim?" "a pool? in october?" asks noah. "it's an indoor pool. come on, you have no excuses." states cody.

"actually, i do. i don't have a swimsuit." noah contradicts him. "then i'll lend you one of mines. i brought two." cody replies promptly, starting to rummage in his suitcase. 

noah facepalms. that boy sure was prepared for any eventuality.

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

courtney sat on the penultimate bed, while heather and lindsay occupied the first two and gwen took the last.

heather and lindsay were talking about going to the hotel's pool and bikinis, but the brunette was too lost in thought to pay attention.

then she noticed gwen.

she was minding her own business, ignoring the other girls. writing something on her journal, she gave off a totally different vibe. 

she didn't care about choosing which swimsuit looked better on her, she probably didn't even plan to go to the indoor pool.

she looked like she had real interests, that went beyond the stuff everyone liked to do.

courtney wouldn't mind having a conversation with her, considering she's only used to lindsay's chattering and heather's muttering.

"courtney, what are you waiting for? don't tell me you forgot a swimsuit after checking your suitcase twice!" says lindsay.

"...actually, i don't feel like swimming, i'm a bit nauseous. you guys go ahead, tho. i'll reach you later." replies courtney.

"it's okay! bye courtney and greta!" exclaims the blonde girl. heather rolls her eyes, then she throws a curious glance at courtney, and leaves.

gwen raises an eyebrow. "what did she call me?" she asks. "greta. she often mistakes people's names." courtney replies. 

gwen keeps her eyebrow up, but decides not to ask further. courtney looks at her neutral expression, her eyes focused on the pen she's holding and the page she's writing on.

"so... i assume you're feeling a little out of place here?" asks the brunette. "your assumption is correct." the goth girl replies without raising her eyes from the journal.

"i swear, they aren't bad." says courtney, referring to her friends.

"then why did you make up an excuse to not go with them?" asks gwen. "i- i didn't-.."

"c'mon, i can tell you're not feeling nauseous or anything like that. heather probably noticed too, while lindsay is too oblivious." gwen interrupts her.

courtney sighs. "it's just that... the atmosphere between us is a bit heavy lately. d-don't get me wrong, i care about them a lot, 

but i wish we could hold a conversation with that isn't always gossip or shopping related." 

gwen raises her gaze from the diary to the other girl's direction. then she lets out a little laugh. "i always thought you were too smart for them, you know?"

courtney almost gasps at that statement. she leans her head on the wall behind her bed and lays down, without replying, just thinking.

↳ ❝ ༄ ❞

cody dives into the water, and a few drops hit noah's shirt. "get my shirt wet, why don't you?" 

cody laughs lightly. "sorry. you should join me, tho! i didn't lend you that swimsuit for nothing." he invites him. "not a chance in hell." noah replies.

"as i already said, you really are no fun." cody whines. then he plunges into the water.

noah sits beside the pool with his book, dipping his feet in. cody emerges, and an idea pops in his head as he sees noah. 

he swims in the other boy's direction. the water around him stirs as he moves his arms rhythmically, causing splashes of water to touch noah's knees.

"not my book too!" exlaims the latter. cody giggles. "then place it on the ground." "so you can pull me in the water with you? not in a million years." 

cody sticks out his lower lip. "c'monn...~ please?" he begs. noah shakes his head in denial. "no." 

"what can I do to convince you?" asks the geek. "i don't think there's anything you can do to achieve your goal, sorry." 

"even begging?" asks cody. noah blushes a little. "n-no. actually, i find it kinda annoying when people insist too much." 

after that sentence, the boy lowers his gaze back on his book. cody smirks.

"please, noahh~ keep me company, i'm begging you!" he insists, placing his elbows on noah's lap. the other can feel his cheeks go on fire.

"for god's sake, will you stop?" he exlaims, raising his arms abruptly. doing so, he accidentaly throws his book behind him.

his eyes widen, realizing that, with that gesture, cody had tricked him. before he can even react, the geek pulls him in the water against his will.

after plunging into the water, noah emerges with a sulky expression painted on his face, and cody bursts out laughing.

"you're such a dork." he states with his arms crossed. then he gives up and takes off his completely soaking t-shirt.

after throwing it on the pool's edge, he quickly turns back to cody to splash him. the other boy closes his eyes instinctively before splashing back.

as this cute, playful and childish scene goes on, heather and lindsay cross the pool's entrance.

"who's there?" asks heather, trying to descry who was already in the water. "oh, it's got to be those little nerds from our class! awww, and look! they make such a cute couple." says lindsay. heather indulges her. "whatever."

realizing they're no longer alone, cody and noah stop splashing each other and realize they were about 8 inches closer than they were about ten seconds earlier. they pull away immediately as they see the other two girls.

noah moves away his wet hair from his face, and while he's distracted, cody takes a closer look at his shirtless body without realizing.

he usually wouldn't think so, because noah mostly wears many layers of clothing, but he actually had a pretty sculpted physique.

"holy shit. noah sterecra is actually hot." he thinks to himself.

...wait- did his brain actually formulate that sentence?!

**Author's Note:**

> hey there! this is my first fic on Ao3! i’d really appreciate feedback <3\. i’m going to post the next 5-6 chapters pretty soon since i only have to copy & paste them from wattpad. 
> 
> also please don’t hate on my ship choices, it happened to me before and it’s kinda unpleasing and demotivating :/ 
> 
> so just letting you know, if you’re looking for duncney or aleheather, sorry dear, you’re in the wrong place
> 
> ty for your eventual support <3


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